Saints defense delivering on vow to be team's identity without Drew Brees
 

Jameis Winston did an excellent job of stepping up in the New Orleans Saints’ first game without Drew Brees on Sunday. But he wasn’t the only one.

New Orleans’ defense was downright dominant in Sunday's 38-3 drubbing of the Green Bay Packers and reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers – just as players such as linebacker Demario Davis had vowed to be heading into this season.

Davis said during the preseason that New Orleans’ identity had changed since he first arrived in 2017, when the defense's mentality was more like, “Let us get one or two more stops and our offense will come in and bring it home.”

“We certainly know the challenge at hand. We know the identity of our team. We know the role that we have to play,” Davis said after Sunday’s win. “I think we’ve felt as confident as you can feel going into the first game with the unit that we’ve had.”

“We want to be that defense that you have to worry about and not just rely on how potent our offense is,” longtime defensive end Cameron Jordan added.

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The Saints’ defense has flown a bit under the national radar over the past four years under the direction of coordinator Dennis Allen, but they have been trending in this direction while winning four straight NFC South titles. Since Week 3 of the 2017 season, the Saints rank No. 1 in the NFL in run defense and top five in points allowed and yards allowed.

“I would say we’ve seen that side of the ball if you’re talking specifically in the last 2½ years, we’ve seen the improvement, we’ve seen the specific areas right in front of our eyes as we’ve grown,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “I think this defense we saw jell last year and finish the season with confidence and begin the offseason and training camp with confidence, with a lot of returning starters and guys that played at a high level.”

Of course it was fair to wonder if they might take a step back this season after losing key pieces such as cornerback Janoris Jenkins, defensive end Trey Hendrickson, linebacker Alex Anzalone and defensive tackles Malcom Brown and Sheldon Rankins.

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Re: Saints defense delivering on vow to be team's identity without Drew Brees
 

Our defense looks like a number one defense. I was excited about our defense in the preseason but now I am much more excited after the thumping we gave Green Bay.

Not only that I'm also stoked up about our offense after watching Winston and company on Sunday. Who Dat baby! :bng: